


Worst Nightmare

by silvermoongirl10



Series: Worst Nightmare [1]
Category: Blue Bloods (TV)
Genre: Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-17
Updated: 2013-12-17
Packaged: 2018-01-04 23:12:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1086790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silvermoongirl10/pseuds/silvermoongirl10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Jamie is targeted for something he has witnessed it takes the skill of a visting British special Forces medic to save Jamie's life but when one of the soldiers shoots another cop there is evidence that the visiting soldiers could have been involved in the shooting so was saving Jamie's life a cover to protect the group of soldiers or was it genuine concern from the medic?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Jamie had just come off duty and was walking back to his apartment, but taking the long way home so he could stop by a grocery store for some much needed food. On his way down the street he passed a group of seven people, obviously tourists by the way they were looking around and reading a map, also their accents confirmed they weren't from New York and that they also weren't from the U.S.

Jamie and the group stopped at some crossing lights and Jamie had to stifle a laugh when he heard two of the guys arguing about where they were going to go next.

"We should go see the Statue of Liberty Mitch"

"Why it's just a statue! I say we go to Broadway and see if we can see any famous actresses come out of the theatres".

"What is it with you and women Smudge?"

Before Smudge could reply another guy said "what about going to art galleries and museums?"

Mitch and Smudge turned to look at the other guy and gaped at him saying "we're in _New York_ and you want to go to art galleries and museums? We have those back home in the UK you _moron_ Moll!"

"Just thought I'd make a suggestion no need to call people names" muttered Moll,

Jamie was waiting for the lights to change when another guy tapped his arm and asked "excuse me you from around here?" the guy asked in a heavy Irish accent, Jamie smiled and nodded "can I ask where you suggest we go before those three kill each other?"

Jamie laughed and said "why don't you go to Times Square, that's pretty popular"

The Irish guy nodded his thanks and said "hey guys you hear that?"

"Yeah Paddy we heard that, sounds like a good idea to as it's near Broadway" said Smudge

"It's also near the art gal-" Moll stopped mid-sentence from the glares Smudge and Mitch were sending him, "ok shutting up now"

"Good" muttered Mitch.

A young petite blonde women then said "what about going shopping? I think that's _great_ idea"

The guys looked at her for a moment and then said simultaneously "nah! Beth that's _boring_ "

"If you don't mind my asking, why is Beth the only one with a normal name?" asked Jamie,

Beth laughed and said "being in the Army means you get lumped with a nickname, mine is Twig cuz apparently I'm as thin as a twig, Smudge's real name is Michael Smith, Mitch's name is Steve Mitchell, Moll's name is Keith Morrell, Paddy's name is Dylan McShane and those two over there are John 'Jock' Blair and Tom 'Taffy' Williams"

"Taffy?" asked Jamie

Taffy laughed and said "it's a nickname given to the Welsh"

Jock then added "Jock is a nickname for the Scottish and Paddy is a nickname for the Irish"

"And because there are three of us who are English our nicknames just came from our surnames" said Mitch.

Jamie nodded and shook all their hands and said "well I hope you enjoy your time in New York"

The lights then changed and so Jamie crossed the street smiling at the group in farewell, as he reached the other side of the street he suddenly got a queasy feeling in his stomach like there was something wrong, just as Jamie began to pull out his off duty gun he heard something like firecrackers going off, but he knew it to be gun fire. Then suddenly he felt white hot pain searing from his abdomen and chest, as he felt himself drop to the floor there was people screaming and running, he looked up at the face of the person who was lowering their gun, but before Jamie could shout out the man turned away into the crowd and Jamie felt himself drop into the engulfing darkness.

* * *

 

Beth smiled at the man who suggested Times Square, as she crossed the street just as she was turning a different corner to the man she saw his whole stance change and watched as he went to get something from his other side. Then she heard three gunshots and saw the man crumple to the floor as people just ran past him trying to get away from the danger. Beth's whole instincts as a medic kicked in as she crouched and ran towards the man on the floor, her friends didn't try and stop her, they were Special Forces soldiers from the British Army and she had saved all their lives at least once.

When she reached the man's side she immediately began searching for his wounds, there had been three gunshots so she assumed there was three wounds. This was confirmed when she saw the man had blood coming from his left side, upper abdomen and chest. Smudge had arrived next to her and saw the man's wallet and looked for some ID.

"He's names Jamieson Reagan Beth"

"Well I'm gonna call you Jamie, is that ok? Cuz your whole name is a bit of a mouthful, so whether you like it or not Jamie is what I'm gonna call you" said Beth.

The others put a protective stance around Beth and her patient, all trying to see where the shooter may have gone but there was no sign of them.

"Didn't think I'd need my medic bag on holiday" murmured Beth,

"What do you need Beth?" asked Smudge.

"Cling film and something to pad the gunshot wounds"

"On it" and Smudge ran to a nearby grocery store as fast as he could, while Beth and Taffy put their hands on the wounds to try and stem the bleeding.

Smudge soon returned and handed Beth the cling film she asked for and said "this is all they had that could be used to pad the wounds" and he handed Beth a pack of tampons.

Taffy just shook his head, "dude really that's all they had that Beth could use for dressings?"

Before Smudge could reply he saw a figure emerge from the crowd drawing a gun, Smudge instinctively reached for his weapon, then realized he didn't have it "ah crap!" Smudge looked around for something to protect himself and the group with when he saw Jamie had a holster on his belt with a gun, without a second thought he pulled out the gun and fired at the other guy in the shoulder disarming him. "Paddy, Moll, go take care of that piece of crap"

Paddy and Moll nodded and went over and made sure the guy wasn't going anywhere, the guy tried fighting so Paddy knocked him out with a punch.

Taffy looked between Smudge holding the gun and Jamie currently lying unconscious, "why the hell was he carrying a loaded gun?"

"Well maybe it's a good thing he was" replied Smudge who then spotted a silver chain around Jamie's neck he pulled it out and saw on the chain was a police badge. Taffy and Smudge shared a look, "whatever is going on here Officer Reagan must have got himself in a big mess".

Beth was currently telling Jock about Jamie's status and Jock relayed it to the Ambulance operator he was on the phone with. Taffy looked up at Jock and said "you better tell them that it is a cop that has been shot, while I'm guessing off duty"

Jock nodded and then bent down "operator I just found out that the wounded man is a cop off duty… his badge number is 7689 and his name is Jamieson Reagan… right ok" Jock turned to Beth and said "the Ambulance is five minutes out"

Beth had just finished wrapping the cling film around Jamie's torso and abdomen and looked at Jock solemnly "I just hope Jamie here can last that long" she turned to Jamie and said "you'd better by the way because I'm sure your family will want you to stick around". As the group waited for the Ambulance they all talked to Jamie about anything that came to them, they all knew this was important because even though Jamie was unconscious his hearing sense would be the last to go and so by talking to him it would help keep his brain functioning and so hopefully keep him alive until he got to the hospital.


	2. Chapter 2

Frank was having his weekly meeting with the mayor talking about the drop in crime. When Baker walked into the office with a very worried look on her face.

"Baker what is it?" asked Frank looking at Baker confused,

"I'm sorry sir but Jamie has been shot".

"How bad?" said Frank matter of fact, the mayor gave him a sympathetic look.

"Critical, on route to St Victor's and Garrett is getting the car ready for you and we also have another officer down at the scene".

Frank felt his world crash down, his youngest son had been shot, and there was a chance he could still die. _Why? Why did this have to happen? I can't lose Jamie as well as Joe!_ Thought Frank, but he kept his calm, the situation needed to be sorted.

"How's Renzulli?" asked Frank as he stood up to leave and the mayor nodded in understanding. Frank and Baker walked to the elevator followed by Garrett.

"It's not Renzulli; he wasn't there because Jamie was off duty"

"What happened?"

"We don't know sir, details are sketchy, uniforms are at the scene trying to figure out what happened, but many witnesses ran from the scene so we have people looking at CCTV footage from the area to figure out what exactly happened".

Garrett turned to Frank and said "Jamie's name hasn't been released yet so how do you want the family to be informed?"

"Garrett you go get my dad and don't allow Jamie's name to be released yet and inform Danny's sergeant and get a message to Erin, she's in court today. Danny will tell Linda and Linda will sort the boys and Erin will get Nikki".

* * *

 

Danny and Jackie were doing paperwork when a news report caught the squad's attention.

"There has been a shooting in Chelsea on the corner of 8th Avenue and 26th street. It has been confirmed that both victims are off duty NYPD officers, because of witnesses fleeing the scene the police is asking anyone with information to please come forward, the identities of the officers cannot be released because the families are still being informed…"

Jackie and Danny shared a forlorn look, so two more police officers had been shot. Every time this happened Danny had flashbacks to the night Joe died, he had been safe in bed and Joe had been walking around the city trying to solve a case, when he had been shot by a dirty cop.

"Reagan" Danny looked up at his sergeant, sarge motioned for him to come into the office. Jackie looked at him and he just shrugged. He thought it couldn't be about the off duty cop's shooting, because the only ones in the family who were cops was him, their dad and Jamie. It couldn't be Frank because it would have been plastered over the news that the Commissioner had been shot and as far as he knew Jamie should still be walking a beat.

"I don't know how to tell you this Reagan so I'll just say it"

"Say what sarge?"

"One of the off duty officers who was shot… it's your brother Jamie"

"What?... it couldn't be sarge, Jamie's still on duty!"

"No Danny, Jamie worked a double shift. It's definitely him, he'd just come off duty not come on".

Danny stood gaping at sarge, "how is he?"

Sarge motioned for Jackie to enter the office, she worked out what was happening from Danny's face, the only time Danny looked like he was, was when someone in the family was hurt.

"I'm not gonna sugar coat it Danny, it's not good, he's critical and should be arriving at St Victor's any minute. So go, your dad is on his way there". Danny nodded and Jackie followed him out of the squad room, Danny pulled out his cell phone to call Linda.

* * *

 

Linda was cleaning her house when her phone rang and she saw the caller ID.

"Hi Danny"

"Linda…" sniffed Danny,

"Danny what's wrong?"

"It's Jamie… Linda… he's…he's been shot"

"What hospital?"

"St Victor's"

"I'll sort the boys and see you there"

* * *

 

Henry was doing the weeding in the front garden when he heard a car pull up, he turned around and saw Garrett get out of the car.

"Hello Garrett, did Frank forget something?"

Henry then looked closely at Garrett's face, "Garrett?"

"No Henry Frank didn't forget anything; I've come to take you to St Victor's"

"Which one?" asked Henry,

"Jamie, its Jamie"

"What happened?"

"He was shot"

Henry closed his eyes and sighed, _not again, why did it have to happen again?_

"Henry?"

Henry's eyes snapped open, he went to the front door and locked it and went back down to the street to Garrett and said "let's go".

* * *

 

Erin was sat at her bench collecting her notes together before she would question a witness to the murder she was prosecuting. When a secretary of the court came over with a saddened look on her face and handed Erin a folded piece of paper. Erin unfolded the paper and sucked in a breath, her baby brother had been shot and he was in a critical condition.

"Councillor Reagan?" called the judge, Erin looked up the defence had finished their questioning and now she should be questioning the witness.

"Your honour may I have permission to approach the bench?" asked Erin,

"You may"

Erin came up to the bench and the judge asked "what is the matter Councillor?"

Erin just passed him the piece of paper she had been given. The judge read it and then handed it back and asked "what would you like to do?"

"Would you call a recess your honour?"

"Of course" the judge patted Erin's hand for comfort and then announced "the court is adjourned until Monday". Erin then dashed out the court to get Nikki from school and then wait with the rest of the family in the waiting room, waiting to hear the fate of Jamie.


	3. Chapter 3

All the family were sat in the waiting room, their minds coming up with different scenarios of what could happen to Jamie. Frank was sat thinking about the possibility of Jamie not making it; his two youngest boys would have been taken too soon through being shot. Now Frank wished he had made Jamie stay in Law, but Jamie was a Reagan and would have become a cop anyway, and Frank couldn't deny that every time Jamie talked about the job his eyes would light up. Frank then looked at his oldest children, Erin was sat holding hands with Henry and Nikki, and then Danny. Danny was away from the family pacing up and down the length of the room. Out of all of them Frank knew Danny was taking Jamie's shooting the hardest, even when they were growing up if Jamie got hurt Danny would take it upon himself to solve the situation, Joe would take care of Jamie, but in the background if Jamie had been pushed over Danny would sort the other kid out. Danny would even take the punishment Frank would give him without complaint.

At the sound of approaching footsteps everyone's head's snapped up to look at the Doctor. Out of the corner of his eye Frank saw Danny was barely keeping it together.

"What's Jamie's situation Doc?" asked Henry,

The Doctor sighed and said "Jamie was shot three times, once in the chest, once in the abdomen and once on his left side, the surgery is going to take a while".

"So how is it going Doc?" asked Frank,

"Everything is going well, but even if he survives surgery the next twenty-four hours will be criticall, and the reason why I am telling you this is because the only reason why he reached the hospital alive is because of a young woman who is a medic for the British Army".

"So what are you saying Doc?" asked Henry as he rose from his seat to stand beside Frank.

"What I'm saying is if Jamie makes it through surgery, there won't be much else we can do because it's up to Jamie and his will to live".

A gasp was heard from behind Frank and Henry, they turned around just as Danny said "I can't take much more of this" and Danny dashed out of the waiting room.

Linda got up to follow him but Frank said "let him go Linda, his squad caught the case, my bet is he's going there and he's going to get the piece of crap who did this". Linda nodded and sat back down to wait with the others.

* * *

 

Danny walked into the squad room to see a bunch of people sat at desks giving statements; he noticed a young woman was wearing hospital scrubs standing near his desk.

"Excuse me are you ok?"

The girl looked at him and said "yes… oh you're asking because I'm wearing these scrubs, it's only because I had blood on my other clothes"

"Wait you're the one who kept Jamie alive?"

"Are you his family?"

"His older brother to be exact"

"I'm sorry"

"Thanks, what's your name?"

"Beth Powell, Corporal and medic of the British Army, what's your name?"

"Detective Danny Reagan" they shook hands, Danny was about to ask Beth to sit down so he could take her statement when Detective Ryan called across the room,

"Hey Danny you might want to see this"

"Alright I'm coming, I'll be back in a minute Miss Powell" Beth nodded and Danny made his way over to Ryan's desk.

"What's up Ryan?" Ryan gestured for Danny to take a seat,

"This is a clip from a CCTV camera which has a clear view of the shooting"

"And?" asked Danny,

"Just watch" Ryan then clicked play and Danny mentally prepared himself to watch Jamie getting shot. He saw Jamie and a group of people talking and laughing as they waited to cross the street, Danny noticed they were the people sat in the squad room. He then watched as Jamie crossed the street, everything seemed to be normal. But then Danny watched as Jamie's stance changed as he focused on something out of frame, and watched as Jamie reached for his off duty weapon. Danny also noticed Beth in the bottom of the frame who also seemed to take note of Jamie's change in stance. Danny then saw a flash of a gun being fired and Jamie sank to the floor still looking in the direction that the shots had come from. Beth then dashed over to Jamie followed by the group Jamie had just been talking to, one of them then ran to a grocery store, he came back and handed Beth something's that she then began using to patch Jamie up. Danny then saw the one who had run to the store see someone coming towards them with a gun. Danny knew the other guy was the cop who had also been shot, he then saw the guy with Beth grab Jamie's gun and fire at the cop who was in the process of pulling out his badge to identify himself. As the cop fell to the floor after being shot in the shoulder Danny saw two guys from the group make their way over and one of them punched the cop, knocking him out.

Ryan looked at Danny and said "what do you make of that then?"

"I think that group maybe had something to do with the shooting" replied Danny,

Danny then got up and made his way back over to Beth. "Sorry about that Miss Powell"

"It's ok"

Danny gestured for Beth to sit down, "I need to ask you a few questions about what happened" said Danny as he sat at his desk next to Beth, Beth nodded as she knew this was why she had to come to the Police Station.

"Ok Beth so what were you doing there?"

"We were sightseeing"

"So you didn't know Officer Reagan before you met him at that time?"

"No, we only just got into New York yesterday"

"There were other people around your group, why did you specifically talk to him?"

"I don't know, I guess because he was smiling so we figured he was friendly"

Danny realized he wasn't getting anywhere with the answers he was receiving to be able to prove the group had something to do with Jamie's shooting. "So you expect me to believe it wasn't planned to speak to Officer Reagan?"

"Yeah" said Beth starting to become suspicious about the questions and Danny's reactions to her answers. She had noticed after he had gone over to that other Detective his body language and manner towards her had changed and she didn't know why.

Danny sighed in frustration, he knew he had to get Beth to admit to having something to do with the shooting even if she had only been approached and asked to distract Jamie by talking to him, but the answers she was giving. It was like she was purposefully freezing him out because she was heavily involved in _his_ baby brother's shooting.

"So after Officer Reagan crossed the street why did you continue looking in his direction?"

"Because I thought he was cute". If Danny hadn't been so focused on getting Beth's confession and Jamie wasn't fighting for his life in surgery Danny would have laughed and used the comment to tease Jamie at the next family Sunday dinner.

"On the CCTV footage it shows you reacting to something _before_ the gunshots while you were looking at Officer Reagan. What was that about?"

"From experience I felt something was wrong and his body language changed"

"You seemed to know exactly what you needed to have to save Officer Reagan while in a city, what did you use?"

"Cling film and tampons"

Danny then did a double take, ok that was most defiantly the answer he did not expect, he was only trying to catch Beth out so he thought she would just say a first aid kit and give him a 'no duh' look, but the look on Beth's face showed she wasn't lying. "You dressed him like a Christmas turkey?"

"If that's how you want to put it then yes"

Danny then composed himself, not needing the metal image of Jamie dressed like a Christmas turkey, but the thought of Jamie fighting for his life sobered Danny's thoughts up quickly, although once Jamie recovered Danny was _so not_ letting this slide.

"Why did one of your friends shot another cop who was in the process of showing his badge?"

"I don't know! I was looking after Officer Reagan!"

"Wait so you're telling me and expect me to believe that you didn't notice your friend who was knelt _next to you_ take Officer Reagan's gun and shoot someone _in front of you_ "

"No I was just concentrating on Officer Reagan who was shot, that is what we're trained to do!"

"The other cop was wounded thanks to your friend, why didn't you go to him?"

"Because I was concentrating on Officer Reagan and I was afraid he was going to die and I didn't know the other cop had been shot" Danny shuddered when he heard Beth mention she was afraid Jamie would die, Danny would always be thankful to her for saving Jamie, but he _knew_ she and the group had something to do with it!

"So you also didn't notice two of your friends go over and then knock that other cop out?"

"No! Like I already told you I was concentrating on Officer Reagan!"

Danny then stood up and threw his coffee mug on the ground and shouted at a stunned Beth in the now silent Squad room "look I _know_ you had something to do with the shooting, SO JUST TELL ME THE TRUTH!"

Beth's friends Taffy, Moll, Jock and Mitch (the ones who hadn't been arrested, Smudge and Paddy had been arrested for their part in sending the other cop to hospital) came over saying simultaneously:

"Hey you leave her alone!"

"All she did was save that cop!"

"Just because two cops were injured doesn't mean you have to take it out on her!"

"Don't you _dare_ mess with her!"

Beth then raised her hands in the air and said "look guys I'm fine! Just go and sit down!"

Danny then drew up to his full height and snarled "unless you want to join your friends I suggest you _back off_!"

Jackie then rushed over and shouted "alright enough! You lot go back and sit down and Danny just go back to the hospital before you start a riot!"

Danny just glared at the soldiers and muttered "fine" before taking his jacket and storming out of the Squad.

* * *

 

Frank had known something had angered Danny while he was at his Squad, but he would just let Linda calm Danny down and the family had still yet to hear Jamie was out of surgery. Just at that moment Jamie's doctor came into the waiting room and went over to the Reagans and said "Jamie has made it through the surgery, but we have put him under sedation to help his body recover from the wounds and the shock"

The Doctor then showed them to the room Jamie had been put in. Each member of the family went to Jamie's head and told him a message, the boys said what a good day at school they had and thanked Jamie for helping them with some homework which they got B's and A's in. Nikki said she hoped he got better soon because she needed someone to talk to other than her mother who would go all lawyer on her. Linda and Erin both kissed his forehead and told him to get better soon, Henry held Jamie's hand and whispered something no one else heard at Frank's questioning look Henry replied "it's just something between my youngest grandson and me". They then went home for some rest so that they could take over from Frank and Danny in the morning to watch over Jamie.

When Frank went to get some coffee Danny held Jamie's hand and said "don't worry Jamie I'll get whoever did this to you and trust me they're going be sorry".


	4. Chapter 4

It had been three days after the shooting and while waiting for Jamie to wake up Danny busied himself with taking Luke Dawson's (the other shot cop) statement after his Doctor said he was well enough to speak about what happened.

"So you hadn't seen Officer Reagan before the shooting?"

"Well I didn't even see him then because that British guy shot me and two of his buddies came over and knocked me out"

Danny nodded as he wrote down what Dawson said. He then rose from his chair and said "well I hope you feel better soon Dawson"

Dawson nodded and replied "and I hope your brother is gonna be ok" Danny nodded and figured he would try his luck and see if Jackie would let him back in the Squad.

* * *

 

Danny had successfully managed to get back into the Squad but knew he was under Jackie's watchful eye, to make sure he didn't start another 'riot'.

"Hiya Danny!" Danny looked up to see his friend Eugene Parker from his Marine unit come walking up to his desk.

"Hey Gene, what you doing here?"

"I saw on the news what happened to Jamie and I came to make sure you're ok"

Danny gave Eugene a grim smile "I'm as ok as I can be"

Eugene nodded in understanding; he knew it must be hard for Danny to go through having another brother shot. As he looked around the Squad Eugene noticed Beth sitting at a desk across the room.

"Hey Beth!" Beth looked around and waved at Eugene, Eugene then saw Danny giving him a funny look, "what?"

"You know her?"

"Yeah, what's she doing here?"

"She's a suspect for Jamie's shooting, her and her friends"

"Nah you must've got it wrong Danny"

"How? The other cop, Luke Dawson, was shot by one of _her_ friends"

"Which one?"

"Michael Smith -"

"Oh Smudge! The cop was only shot in the shoulder right?"

"Yeah, probably lucky not to be killed" replied Danny unsure of where Eugene was going with this,

"Well then the cop wasn't lucky not to be killed because if Smudge had meant to kill him he would be dead"

"What makes you say that?"

"Well you remember Harry Reynolds the sharpshooter in our unit?"

"Yeah"

"Well Smudge beat Harry by miles in a sharpshooter competition"

Danny could only gape in shock, when he had been in the unit; Harry had been the best sharpshooter in the unit, maybe even the whole Marine Core.

"Wait how do you know the British soldiers anyway?" asked Danny confused on how his friend knew his suspects.

"Well while I was doing my last tour in Afghanistan I met Smudge at the 'friendly' sharpshooter competition between the U.S forces and the British forces and then three days later Beth and her friends saved my life, if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be standing here talking to you".

Before Danny could reply Ryan called him over again.

"What you got Ryan?"

"We began to trace Jamie's movements to see if his shooter followed him and I thought maybe you'd like to take a look and see if you could spot anyone you know has a beef with Jamie"

Danny nodded and watched as Ryan played the CCTV footage he had begun to collect for the case. Danny watched the tape for five minutes and after watching Jamie walk out of a coffee shop four blocks away from where he was shot Danny spotted something and made Ryan stop the tape.

"What did you see?" asked Ryan, Danny beckoned Jackie over who was talking to Eugene, Eugene then went over to Beth.

Danny pointed at the paused footage and said "zoom in here" Danny pointed at a window table of the coffee shop and said "that's Dawson"

"And?" asked Jackie "he is allowed to have a coffee after a shift"

"Yeah, but when I took his statement he told me he didn't stop anywhere after leaving his Prescient because he said he just wanted to go home"

"So he lied to you?"

"Yeah, and I wanna know why. Ryan could you pull up the CCTV footage from inside the coffee shop so we can look at who Dawson was sitting with"

"Sure" replied Ryan as he tapped away at his keyboard and then bought up footage from inside the coffee shop. The three of them watched as Jamie collected his coffee he nodded at a young girl sat at a table behind Dawson and another man, Danny narrowed his eyes when he saw Dawson's body language changed when he noticed Jamie nodding in his direction, Dawson then lent forward and talked earnestly with the man sat opposite him and then Dawson got up and followed Jamie out of the shop. Ryan then zoomed in on the other man's face.

"That's Carlos Rodregus, he's a lieutenant of the Columbian mafia and a drug lord" said Jackie "when I was in Narcotics we could never get him, he was always one step ahead of us"

Ryan looked around at her and said "well now you know why"

Danny just hummed in agreement, he was _so_ going to rip Dawson's statement to pieces to find out the truth behind Jamie's shooting.


	5. Chapter 5

Frank and Henry were sat at Jamie's bedside; they each were sat at different sides so they could both hold one of Jamie's hands, it was a lifeline for them, to know Jamie was still with them. Neither of them spoke, each lost in their own thoughts and prayers.

 _Please God don't take my son from me! Not my youngest, my baby! Please Mary do whatever you can to let him stay with me, please!_ Thought Frank as he gripped Jamie's hand tighter, but his touch was still gentle. Frank was reminded to a time when Jamie was growing up, and he would come to either Frank or Mary with skinned knees and elbows while trying to keep up with his brothers and would fall over. Frank smiled to himself when he remembered how brave Jamie would try to be when his cuts would be disinfected, Jamie would want to show his brothers that he wasn't a weakling and he was more than able to equal them in outdoor activities.

Henry's gaze shifted from between his son and grandson, he could see Frank barely able to keep his tears at bay and then he looked at Jamie who appeared to be sleeping, but all the wires and tubes attached to Jamie soon banished any thoughts of Jamie sleeping peacefully. Henry hated seeing Jamie lying there so still, Jamie always moved in his sleep and seeing him like this broke Henry's heart. He remembered a few months ago when Jamie had to stay with Frank and Henry when his undercover identity had a hit out, Jamie had said _"it's like Danny is made of armour and I'm made of toothpicks"_ , seeing Jamie now, still alive against the odds proved that Jamie wasn't made of 'toothpicks', that he was strong. _Please God I know you have a plan for us all, but please you can't take Jamie from us! I'm his grandfather I should die before him! He still has his whole life ahead of him!_

Henry remembered when Mary and Frank went out for their anniversary and Henry and his wife Rose said they would watch the kids. So Mary and Frank had packed up the kid's stuff for them to spend the night at their grandparent's, Jamie at this time was 3 years old, Rose had gone and put Jamie to bed at 7 o'clock and 9 year old Joe, 11 year old Erin and 13 year old Danny were watching a film, Jamie had wanted to stay downstairs with them, but Rose had been stern not wanting to have to deal with an over tired toddler the next morning had put Jamie to bed herself because she knew Henry would give in to the toddler and let him stay up. Rose and the others had been laughing while watching a film and Henry decided to go and check on Jamie. He had opened the living room door to find Jamie sat on the bottom stair. Henry shut the living room door before Rose found Jamie out of bed, Jamie looked up at Henry and opened his mouth, but Henry put a hand over Jamie's mouth to keep him quiet. Henry then picked up Jamie and carried him up the stairs ignoring Jamie's whimpering protests, when Henry reached the room Jamie was sharing with Joe he put Jamie down on the bed.

"Now kiddo if I'm not mistaken grandma had put you to bed" said Henry as he looked down sternly at Jamie,

"I was trying to sleep grandpa! But I heard you all laughing and I wanted to know what it was about!" replied Jamie, Henry's gaze softened, Jamie always liked being surrounded by his family and being the baby of the family at a young age meant someone was always with him so it must feel strange for him having his siblings having a good time downstairs without him.

Henry then lowered himself onto the bed and as soon as he was lying against the headboard Jamie had then scampered up the bed so he was lying against Henry's chest. Henry chuckled and said "how about I stay up here with you and tell you a story?" Jamie had nodded enthusiastically at this suggestion and had snuggled up against Henry more.

"Danny said last week you arrested a meth head. What's a meth head?"

Henry paused in shock, he didn't expect that question to come out of Jamie's 3 year old mouth, he was going to have to have a word with Danny about what he could and couldn't say in front of Jamie. "Erm… I'll tell you when you're older kiddo" Jamie nodded and Henry went on to tell Jamie about all the fun times Henry had while doing his beat cop tours during the Thanksgiving Day parade.

When the film everyone downstairs were watching had finished Joe had come upstairs and found Henry and Jamie asleep, Joe smiled and got a blanket and placed it over his grandpa and brother.

Henry awoke from his thoughts by a knock on the door, and looked up at Renzulli. Henry waved at Renzulli and gestured for him to take a seat. As Renzulli entered the small room his eyes never left Jamie, Frank too seemed to be pulled from his thoughts at Renzulli's entrance.

Renzulli sat in the chair that was next to Henry and he asked "so what has the Doc said?"

Frank sighed and said "well he said Jamie is improving but he isn't out of the woods yet, because he was shot in the chest there is a chance it could lead to a relapse and Jamie's heart not coping"

Renzulli shook his head "Jamie's strong sir, he may be a quite person but when it comes to it he is stubborn as hell and he won't give up" Henry and Frank chuckled; Renzulli had just described Jamie to a T.

"The kid's smart sir, he'll make a great Detective one day, I swear he is one of the best I have ever seen. I remember I just taught him about observing and not even half an hour later he suspected someone carrying a gun and then he had his first gun collar"

Henry lent forward in his seat, "he never told me that, anything else interesting happen when he walked a beat with you?" Henry was eager to hear some of his youngest grandson's stories, Jamie never really told stories about the job, and Henry figured this was because Jamie never looked for attention.

Renzulli smiled and begun to tell Frank and Henry about the time Jamie arrested someone in a Hotdog suit who had packed the suit with drugs. The resulting laughter seemed to stir Jamie because Frank looked down when he felt Jamie's fingers twitch. Renzulli and Henry caught Frank's eye and all three of them smiled and Renzulli began to tell another tale involving Jamie and what he had done with doing a beat. When Renzulli told something Jamie had been embarrassed about at the time Henry and Frank felt Jamie's fingers twitch, Renzulli then got the Doctor for Henry and Frank to see if Jamie had come out of the woods.

* * *

 

Danny was sat at his desk when his phone rang.

" _Danny"_ when Danny heard his father's voice his heart skipped a beat, he knew Frank was at the hospital, and he feared something was wrong with Jamie.

"Dad! Is anything wrong?"

" _No son, we've spoken to the Doctor and he thinks Jamie will be waking up soon"_

"I'll be right there"

Danny let out a sigh of relief, Jamie was coming back to them and once Jamie woke up he would gently take Jamie's statement and then he would take Dawson _down_.

 


	6. Chapter 6

Frank, Henry, Danny and Erin were sat around Jamie's bedside; the Doctor had said Jamie would be waking up soon. When impatient Danny asked how much longer the Doctor had merely replied "that Detective is entirely up to Jamie" and had left the room. Renzulli had tried to sneak out of the room, but Frank and Henry had asked him to stay, because he was like an extended member of the family after being Jamie's and Joe's training officer. So Renzulli agreed to stay but five minutes later said he was going to get some coffee, that was twenty minutes ago. The family knew he was trying to stay out of the way until Jamie woke up so when he did he would only be surrounded by family. Linda was back at Frank's and Henry's house with Nikki and the boys all of them waiting by the phone eager to hear Jamie had woken up.

Danny was pacing the room constantly looking at Jamie. Erin soon got fed up with Danny's pacing and said "Danny will you please sit down! You're making me nervous!"

Danny mumbled something incoherent and at Erin's questioning look he shook his head, and sighed "when is he gonna wake up?"

Frank smiled; patience was never one of Danny's strong points. "You heard what the Doctor said Danny"

"Yeah I know he said. It's up to Jamie. But seriously he doesn't look any different to when I saw him yesterday and how does the Doc come up with 'he's waking up'? When he hasn't done anything!" Henry was silently chuckling into his hands at Danny's frustration, and before Erin could say anything and possibly cause an argument Henry said "well he _has_ done something Danny"

"Like what?" huffed Danny

"He twitched his hands when Renzulli told stories about what he'd done while on a beat and which he had been embarrassed about at the time" Henry looked over at Danny who now had a 'playful' evil smirk on his face.

"So he responded to embarrassing stories huh?" smirked Danny,

"Oh no" groaned Erin, a bored Danny being forced to wait for something was _never_ good and usually Jamie had to cope with what Danny threw his way as a result and today was going to be no exception. Fortunately Frank had something to say on the matter before Danny could say anything.

"I know you don't like the waiting Danny but that's no excuse to embarrass Jamie when he wakes up he's been through enough already"

" _Awww_ dad there's no need to guilt trip me!" said Danny now looking ashamed of himself. Frank just smiled at his oldest and looked back down at his youngest who looked to be sleeping but to his father's eye looked far to pale and just on the too thin line.

Danny then moved to Jamie's side and held his hand and said "I'm sorry kid, but _please_ wake up soon, I can't take this waiting and I'm sure you know that" Danny then felt a pressure on his hand and saw it was Jamie squeezing it. "That's it kid come on!" encouraged Danny as he watched Jamie fight to regain consciousness.

Jamie's eyes began to flicker open, "da…" breathed Jamie "Dan… ny"

"We're here son" murmured Frank with tears shinning in his eyes,

Jamie's eyes then fully opened and took in his surroundings and the family members sat around him. Erin silently got up kissed Jamie's forehead and then went to get the Doctor, she was so relieved to have Jamie awake, she felt her protectiveness for Jamie come forward and she would have very much liked to scope Jamie up and then lock him in his old room and keep him there out of harm's way. But she knew if she did that she would have to put up with a very annoyed Jamie, it wasn't often Jamie was angered but when he was, well it was safe to say the family, even Joe, would stay out of his way for a while because Jamie's anger could rival Danny's and if he was angered enough it could be _worse_ than Danny's anger, but she could count on one hand the number of times throughout Jamie's life he had been so angry they had avoided him for a while. Erin smiled at the memory of the first outburst from Jamie, he had been arguing with Danny about something, she couldn't remember what; but Danny had been 17 and Jamie 7. The anger Jamie had let loose had stunned Danny into complete and utter silence. Even Mary, who usually strictly told anyone who got angry to calm down, was at a loss of words at Jamie's outburst. Erin just hoped Danny wouldn't try and annoy Jamie during the time Jamie would be recovering because Jamie was just like Danny in the way if he had to stay in bed for long periods of time he would get annoyed at not being able to do anything, so if Danny annoyed Jamie, which she was sure he wouldn't (she hoped), but if he did, well she wouldn't be surprised if Jamie had a few choice words directed at Danny.

Danny looked at Jamie and said "nice to see you awake sleeping beauty"

Jamie gave him a pointed look and said "shut up Danny"

Danny just smiled and left the room, Jamie slowly moved his head towards Frank with a confused look.

"What is it son?"

"Danny"

"What about him?"

"Well normally if I tell him to shut up he always has a snarky comment to reply with, why not now? Why did he just smile and leave?"

Frank smiled sadly "because he was scared he was going to lose another brother"

To that Jamie had no reply and was saved by the arrival of Erin and the Doctor. The Doctor assessed Jamie and said he would be fine to give a statement of what happened in about four hours. Erin left the room again to tell Danny the news, she found him sitting in the waiting room with Renzulli.

_**3 and half hours later** _

"Danny please stop pacing!"

Danny ignored Erin and continued to pace the waiting room; he would go in and check on Jamie every half hour, but would have to leave to stop himself from asking Jamie about what happened.

"Danny please! You're making me nervous! And Jamie is going to be alright so why are you pacing?"

"I'm pacing so I can stop myself from going into Jamie's room, when he needs rest, to start asking him about what happened!"

_**Half hour later** _

Danny looked at his watch and breathed a sigh of relief, he was going to take Jamie's statement and find out what really happened. When he reached Jamie's room he saw his dad and grandpa leaving the room, Henry saw him and said "we're gonna get some coffee". Danny nodded, not only was he sure Frank and Henry really needed the coffee, but he also knew they left when he came to take Jamie's statement so Jamie wasn't overwhelmed with having so many people in the room.

Danny entered the room and sat next to Jamie. "How you feeling kid?"

"Like I've been shot" deadpanned Jamie. Danny chuckled, it was always like Jamie to point out the obvious, but his chuckling soon stopped because he had almost lost Jamie. Jamie had been shot on Friday and it was now Monday, today was the first day Danny felt there was hope to bring down the shooter and Dawson for being a dirty cop.

Danny had no idea how he was going to bring up the subject of what happened, he needed Jamie's statement, but he didn't want to cause Jamie pain by remembering what happened.

"Danny I know you need to take my statement. So where do you want me to start?" Danny looked into Jamie's eyes and saw Jamie knew Danny was finding it hard to ask.

Danny nodded and replied "just start with when you got off shift" as he pressed the record button on his recording device, he wanted to record it so Jamie wouldn't have to go through having to tell anyone else. Jamie nodded and started to think back to Friday. Danny also remembered how he was sure Jamie was safe because he thought Jamie had just gone on shift, not come off, and he also remembered the horror he felt when being told Jamie's shift had changed and it was actually Jamie who had been shot.

Jamie began to tell Danny about remembering he needed to by some food and so took a different route home, his car was at a garage so he decided to walk and felt he needed some coffee after his double shift, so went into a nearby coffee shop.

"On some CCTV footage we have, it shows you nodding to a girl in a coffee shop, do you know her?" asked Danny, he needed every little detail to nail the person who put Jamie in the hospital.

"Yeah, not very well though, I sometimes see her when I'm on a beat. She keeps flirting with me and I guess she's kinda cute"

"I know who else thinks you're kinda cute" mumbled Danny to himself, thinking of the medic who saved Jamie's life.

"What was that?" questioned Jamie,

"Oh nothing" Danny sweetly smiled,

Jamie gave Danny a suspicious look, Danny gestured for him to continue and Jamie nodded slowly still wondering about what Danny had said.

"When I nodded at the girl as I was leaving I noticed this man jump out of his seat nervously and he looked at his watch so I guessed he was just late for something" Danny gritted his teeth, Jamie had just described the way Dawson had left the coffee shop after Jamie.

Jamie then described his route to where the shooting took place, Danny could picture it after watching Jamie take the route on the CCTV footage, when Jamie described talking with Beth and her friends Danny lent forward in his seat, and this was where Jamie's statement played a vital role in the case. Neither Beth nor her friends had seen the shooter; the shooter wasn't even on any CCTV footage, Danny now knew Dawson was involved somehow, Danny just needed Jamie to describe the shooter and Danny could then talk to Dawson with an ID and a statement that ripped to pieces Dawson's version of events.

"As I crossed the street I suddenly felt kinda queasy. I felt something was wrong, I looked around and as I went to reach for my gun I heard gunshots… um…" Danny placed a hand over Jamie's hand and squeezed comfortingly, knowing this part would be the hardest for Jamie. Danny's squeezed gave Jamie comfort and the strength to continue. "As I um…"

"Take your time Jamie, its ok" soothed Danny,

"As I fell to the floor I saw the shooter moving back into the crowd and… um… putting his gun out of sight"

"Do you think you could describe the shooter Jamie?" asked Danny, so Jamie had seen his shooter; well that was music to Danny's ears.

"Yeah, but you could just look on the CCTV footage"

Danny shook his head "the shooter was out of frame"

"I didn't mean the footage from where I was shot" replied Jamie as he shook his head.

"What?" asked Danny,

"The person who shot me was the guy who left the coffee shop in a hurry after me"

Danny's eyes widened in shock and he growled "Dawson"

Jamie looked up at Danny in concern, Danny calmed down, stopped the recording and said "you have a rest now kid" as Danny got up he patted Jamie's shoulder and began to leave the room.

"Danny don't do anything stupid" called Jamie after Danny.

But Danny didn't hear him. He only had one thought running through his mind, not only was Dawson involved, _he_ was the one who shot Jamie. As Danny left the room he called Jackie who was somewhere in the hospital waiting for Danny to replay Jamie's statement to her.

" _Danny? Is everything ok?"_

"It's him Jackie"

" _What? Care to explain?"_

"It's Dawson. Dawson's the shooter. Is he still in the hospital?"

" _Yeah, apparently the nurse has just gone to get his discharge papers"_

"Good"

" _Danny wai-"_ Danny had hung up on her in his anger and his hunt for Dawson.

As Danny marched to Dawson's room he was unaware he had passed Henry holding out a coffee for him. Danny just wanted to get to Dawson. And _no one_ tried to take Jamie away from him and got away with it, when Jamie had been shoved down the stairs Jamie had been there to stop Danny from pushing the men down some stairs. When Jamie had been beaten up by Tesla, Danny wasn't able to know where Tesla was, lucky for Tesla. But this time. This time Danny knew exactly where Dawson was. This time Jamie wasn't able to stop him. This time Danny was able to show people what happened if they harmed Jamie.

Danny stormed into Dawson's room.

"What's going on?" cried Dawson from his position on his bed.

Danny glared at him and growled "it's time for you to meet your maker Dawson".


	7. Chapter 7

Dawson looked at Danny startled, "what do you want?" asked Dawson,

"How can you sit there and ask that? I know the truth Dawson" snarled Danny as he edged closer to the bed Dawson was still lying on,

"And what truth is that?" demanded Dawson "I am a wounded member of the force and you come barging in here and start threatening me!"

"I know the truth behind my brother's shooting Dawson"

"So why are you taking your anger out on me then? The soldiers had something to do with it, we both know that!" Danny was at a loss for words; Dawson still was claiming he was innocent!

Dawson then opened his mouth and said something very stupid to Danny, who was in no mood to mess around. "Is the reason you're here because your brother's dead?" when Dawson asked that there was an almost hopeful glint in his eyes, which set Danny off.

"You asshole!" shouted Danny as he pushed the table that was designed for patients to use while in bed, Danny pushed the table so hard it slammed into Dawson's abdomen.

"Stop claiming innocence Dawson!"

"I'm not claiming anything!" gasped Dawson as he leant forward clutching his stomach,

"Oh yeah? Well stop claiming the soldiers had something to do with my brother's shooting, the _only_ thing they did was _save his life_ when you had tried to end his life"

Dawson looked up at Danny's words, "oh yes Dawson I said _tried_ , because you see my brother woke up four hours ago and just now gave me his statement" hissed Danny as he leaned towards Dawson who shrank back against his pillows.

"Well that's good to hear"

"I'm surprised to hear you say that seeing as Jamie made you"

"Made me for what?"

"Stop playing games Dawson!" Yelled Danny, he then took a breath to calm himself, which didn't work "Jamie identified you as the shooter"

"Well that doesn't prove anything seeing as Jamie was already falling unconscious so he may not remember properly"

"Don't you _dare_ call my brother Jamie, that's what friends call him and you are _no_ friend, he's Officer Reagan to you"

Dawson tried to shrink back against the pillows further,

"And for your information Dawson Jamie was conscious enough to remember you from the coffee shop and there's one thing I want to know"

"What's that?"

"Why did you shoot my brother?"

Dawson began to protest,

"Don't bother saying it wasn't you, you're a suspect and my partner's organising a line up as we speak and we'll see what Jamie says. So why did you do it?" demanded Danny.

"The boss thought Jam – Officer Reagan made us, as some cops had been snooping around my boss, and so he told me to get rid of Officer Reagan before he could tell anyone"

"Well that shows how bad a cop you are"

"Excuse me?"

"Jamie wasn't even looking at you, he was nodding to girl he's met a few times who was sat behind you. So you see Dawson if you hadn't tried to kill my brother we wouldn't have found out you sell out your fellow cops to the Columbian mafia"

Suddenly Danny caught some movement in the corner of his eye and as he turned he managed to grab his grandfather's arm before Henry could throw his coffee in Dawson's face.

"Gramps don't it's not worth it" insisted Danny,

"No it's not but it would have given me great satisfaction seeing as this scumbag has tried to kill my youngest grandchild for _no reason_ " spat Henry towards Dawson,

"Don't worry gramps we've got him" just then Jackie and two uniforms entered the room, Jackie walked up to the bed she gave Dawson his discharge forms which he signed she then got him up from the bed and began to say "Luke Dawson you have the right to remain silent-"

"Yeah yeah I know you can save your breath" muttered Dawson, Jackie just shrugged and nodded to Henry and Danny as she and the uniforms escorted Dawson out of the hospital. Henry nodded for Danny to follow Jackie, Henry then made his way back to Jamie's room Henry noticed Danny talking to Frank at the end of the corridor, most likely filling Frank in on what happened. Henry then entered Jamie's room and saw Jamie was sleeping, as Henry approached Jamie's bed he smiled at the peaceful look on Jamie's face, as he knew soon enough the nightmares would start. Henry then thought about all the nights in he and Jamie shared after Sydney went to London, he smiled remembering Jamie's eager look when Henry would tell him a story about the job. And again Henry thought about Jamie saying everyone treated him like he was made of toothpicks; Henry sat down and said "see I told you Jamie, you are strong and this has only proved it" Henry then moved a stray lock of hair from Jamie's face. Henry revelled in the thought of Jamie getting better and to hopefully be soon coming home, to Henry that couldn't come soon enough, he wanted his youngest grandson under the same roof as him to keep a close eye on him and make sure he was healing physically and emotionally properly.

* * *

 

Beth and her friends were waiting in the squad room for Smudge and Paddy to be let out of holding, Detective Reagan had apparently according to Smudge, been quite full on when interviewing them like he had with her. But Beth knew the reason why and couldn't blame Danny for wanting to find who had tried to kill his brother. When Smudge had been complaining about Danny to her Beth had told Smudge why Danny went at them hard. Smudge had then stopped complaining and had felt bad about what he had said.

Beth was drawn from her thoughts when she saw Danny bringing Dawson into the squad looking pleased, so Beth guessed that the man Danny was bringing was the man who had tried to kill Danny's brother. Smudge and Paddy came over a few minutes later, at the same time Danny came over to them.

"I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted around you guys" said Danny,

"Nah its fine" replied Smudge, smiling at Danny showing there weren't any hard feelings,

"How long are you guys in New York for?" asked Danny,

"Another three weeks" replied Mitch,

"Well that's perfect as my dad wants to invite you all for Sunday Dinner as a way to say thank you"

"Just let us know the date and the time and that would be great even though you don't have to" said Jock, the boys exchanged phone numbers with Danny and began to leave when Beth asked Danny "how's your brother doing Detective Reagan?"

"Well for starts you can call me Danny and secondly he has woken up and is talking, if you want you can come visit him as I'm going back now" Beth agreed as she wanted to see for herself how her patient was doing, she told her friends and got in the car with Danny.

* * *

 

Danny and Beth walked into Jamie's room to see him awake and talking with Henry,

"Hey kid how you feeling?"

"Sore, but I'm ok" replied Jamie,

"I've brought someone to see you"

"Who?"

"The medic who saved your life" Danny then pushed Beth into the room, Henry made an excuse to go and find Frank,

"Hi Jamie, I don't know if you remember me" said Beth smiling as she took Henry's seat,

"Your names Beth isn't it? I remember your friends arguing about where they wanted to go" said Jamie,

Beth laughed "yeah their always arguing" soon Beth and Jamie struck up a conversation and becoming fast friends with all the things they had in common, not noticing Danny had slipped out of the room.

* * *

 

It had now been two and a half weeks since Jamie had woken up and his good recovery meant he was now staying at his father's and grandfather's house until he was completely recovered. He had been at his dad's house for two days now, just that morning he had to go to Danny's squad and pick his shooter out of a line up. He had picked Dawson out not knowing he had made Danny's day as now his brother could gloat to Dawson that Jamie obviously wasn't that much out of it after being shot. After coming home Jamie had been exhausted and gone upstairs to have a rest. That afternoon instead of a dinner the family was having a barbeque as the soldiers were coming over. The time Jamie spent in the hospital everyday Beth and soldiers would come and visit him; Jamie soon became friends with all of them. He found out Beth was waiting to find out where her next posting would be and said there was a chance she could be sent to New York, and asked Jamie if she was could he show her around, Jamie said of course he would.

Jamie had heard the soldiers arriving and so got out of bed and was now slowly coming down the stairs holding onto the banister, he hated having his family fuss over him, and he understood they must have been scared about him, but it didn't mean they had to mother hen him all the time! When he was almost at the bottom of the stairs Frank dashed over saying "are you ok son? Do need me to help?"

"I'm fine dad" said Jamie through gritted teeth, he had thought him coming out of hospital would have stopped his family hovering over him, he was wrong. Even Danny was hovering over him and it was just making him feel claustrophobic, the only ones letting him have breathing space were Beth and her friends.

Even though Jamie couldn't keep his frustration out of his voice Frank didn't back off, "are you sure son? You did have a tiring morning today"

"I made it this far dad, I'm pretty sure I can manage the last few steps" Jamie then moved past his dad, he felt bad about the way he was acting but he hoped acting this way would get the family to back off! No such luck.

As Jamie made his way into the living room, Danny rushed over to him and made him sit down, adding as he left the room. "You just sit there kid I'll get your burger for you" Danny was out of earshot to hear Jamie's frustrated sigh, but Beth heard him.

"They only do it because they care" she said as she sat next to him,

"I know, but it feels like their smothering me! I can't fault them for their reasons but I just wish they would stop doing it" sighed Jamie leaning back,

"How are you sleeping?" asked Beth,

"Huh?"

"Jamie I've known a lot of people go through similar experiences and they have _all_ suffered from nightmares"

"Yeah, I've had at least one a night" murmured Jamie,

"Admitting to having nightmares doesn't make you weak Jamie. It just means your human and a person who has gone through a traumatic experience"

Jamie nodded and looked straight ahead and whispered "I keep replaying it over and over in my head, Danny told me why it happened and I just keep thinking I could have stopped it happening if I didn't nod to that girl, in fact if I never even went into that damn coffee shop in the first place"

Beth placed a hand on Jamie's hand and said "everyone thinks about what would have happened if they hadn't done something, but you're here and alive Jamie. It's going to be ok" Jamie could only nod in reply.

* * *

 

It was now later in the evening and everyone was gathered in the living room, Henry was asking the soldiers where they were from.

Henry turned to Beth and asked "so where in England are you from?"

Smudge, Moll and Mitch simultaneously said "ooooh" and Jock, Taffy and Paddy shook their heads.

Beth just looked right back at Henry and said "oh you Canadians"

Henry looked confused and replied "I'm American"

Beth looked calmly at Henry and said "and I'm Welsh and I live in _Britain_ "

Moll then asks "what's wrong with being English?"

Taffy said while laughing "everything"

Jamie rose from his seat next to Frank saying "I'm just gonna get a drink"

"I can get it" said Frank,

"No dad" muttered Jamie, as Jamie walked towards the door that led to the kitchen he stumbled. Beth shot out of her seat and helped Jamie right himself. Danny smiled to himself, the reason he wasn't concerned right now was because he thought Jamie had pretended to stumble, even though Danny couldn't prove it. He looked over at Jamie and caught his eye, Danny smirked and shook his head, Jamie just smiled and shrugged causing Danny to chuckle to himself.

Jock looked over and called out "hey twig how come whenever we're hurt you don't fuss over us that much?" the other soldiers all laughed with the Reagans causing Beth and Jamie to both go red in the face.

"Come on Jamie I'll help you get your drink" Jamie nodded his thanks, they were both getting out of an awkward situation but he wasn't annoyed because Beth only offered to help him get his drink, she didn't offer to get it for him.

* * *

 

**Three months later**

Jamie was now ready to get back on the streets and he was rearing to go, waiting for roll call to start he used his phone to check his emails and found one from Beth. (He and the soldiers had exchanged email addresses) Beth had sent:

_Hey Jamie,_

_Glad to hear you're getting back on your beat. Just a quick email to let you know I have been posted to New York and I'll be there in about two months so I expect you to keep your promise and show me around the city ._

_Your friend_

_Beth_

_xx_

Jamie didn't know why but reading the email brought a smile to his face.


End file.
